Book two in the Love-Bots series. A man built for sex... A woman who wants more... Freedom fighter Shani Brown is determined to drag the ungrateful Royce back to her team in Seattle. Despite his denial of mistreatment, she wants to give him a chance at a better life. Due to her horrific past as an unlicensed love-bot, Shani never plans to have sex again. But Royce's makers punish him remotely with crippling pain. His only escape is to orgasm. Never one to turn her back on a job, Shani soon finds herself servicing him-and soon after, caring for him. Love-bot Royce Harden wasn't looking to be rescued, especially not from the San Francisco BDSM club where he was having a perfectly good time. But rescued he was-by a hellcat bent on delivering him to her people. As Royce starts to trust Shani, he begins to dream of freedom. But freedom comes with a price. Royce must face his vanity, his makers, and even the loss of his sexual upgrades if he's going to be the man Shani deserves.

Royce Harden is very happy working as a love-bot, thank you very much, and he has no desire to be dragged away from the BDSM club he’s working at, even if it’s a stunning hellcat stein who is doing the dragging. Shani Brown says she’s working with the Zombie Underground, a group working to free steins like him. Royce doesn’t care to be free…until he starts spending time off the grid, away from the influence of his makers.

Shani is allergic to sex — or close enough. As a former sex slave, she has no desire to be intimate with Royce, but when his makers cripple him with punishing pain only orgasm can relieve, Shani can’t leave the stein in pain. As Shani and Royce attempt to evade his makers and get back to ZU headquarters, Shani begins to do the unexpected and fall for the sexy love-bot.

The Love-Bots series gets even better with the second installment, Studenstein. Author Daisy Harris continues to build on the imaginative world she created in Lust After Death, and I found myself fascinated by the history and workings of the steins.

World-building aside, Studenstein is a wickedly erotic romance that turns up the heat at unexpected moments and makes you care about its protagonists. Royce is a love-bot who knows how to make the most of his upgrades, but what interested me more than his sexiness was how he grew as a character over the course of the story. Royce is stubborn and a bit vain at the beginning of Studenstein, but as he gets further away from the life he’s known, readers get to see the “real” Royce emerge, and he’s hot as hell. As for Shani, she’s a tough-as-nails stein who’s a bit snappy and wholly endearing. She was built to be a sex slave and that (understandably) left its mark on her. It wasn’t easy for her to work through her attraction to Royce, but Ms. Harris made the journey well worth it. The only thing that kept Studenstein from being a perfect read for me was the ending, which felt a bit rushed. A big part of the story is Shani’s self-described “allergy” toward sex. Because of this, I’d have really liked to see the resolution of this plotline a bit more developed. That being said, I still loved Studenstein; it’s sexy, interesting, and leaves you wanting more Love-Bots stories.

Book four in the Love-Bots series. Kuriko Mai is a stein with an issue. She never remembers sex. Nor does she recall meeting the men she finds in her bed. Cursed with flawed programming, she's all but given up hope of having a normal life. However, after years of watching her suffer, her boss Frank can't stand it anymore, and he's determined to make her remember any way he can. Frank has always loved Kuri. And when he finds himself in a heated embrace with her, he can't walk away-even knowing she may not remember him in the morning. But when it's obvious Kuri recalls moments of the passion they shared, the two decide to become lovers in hopes Frank holds the key to ending her malfunctioning programming. Their plan backfires when their erotic experience opens a floodgate of memories so painful, Kuri breaks down. In order to move forward, Kuri has to face her past. She just doesn't know if she can risk the pain loving Frank could cause.

Frank King has made it his life’s work to free steins. Though he’s a master at reprogramming steins to help them live a normal life, there’s one stein he can’t seem to fix, no matter how hard he tries. And it’s his bad luck that she’s the woman he’s been in love with for years.

Kuriko Mai was a stein built for sex — literally. Though Frank freed her, her flawed programming glitches when she’s emotional and she blacks out, only to find out she’s gone back to acting like the prostitute she was created to be during those forgotten hours. Kuri wants to have a relationship with Frank, but the tumultuous change in their relationship from friends to lovers has an unexpected side effect: Kuri starts to remember what happened to her when she glitches. The memories are almost too much for her to bear, and if Kuri ever hopes to recover, she needs to face her past. But will Kuri’s path to healing take her away from Frank?

One Night Steined is an emotional rollercoaster of a story. Frank, who’s been the leader of the Zombie Underground for much of the series, is almost a hermit. He’s one of the older steins, and his visible scars and patchwork appearance tend to put people off. I’ve adored Frank throughout the series, but watching him grow as a character made me like him more. Kuri’s personal development was also interesting. Even as everything falls apart for her, we see her become even stronger. Kuri and Frank’s relationship is filled with ups and downs and Kuri’s “glitch” is so horrible that it breaks your heart to see it happen. Daisy Harris did an amazing job wrecking havoc with my emotions in One Night Steined.

One Night Steined is the fourth Love-Bots story, but it can be read as a standalone. The previous six Love-Bots heroes and heroines have at least a cameo, and it was wonderful to revisit some of my favorite characters. I do wish there had been a bit more to the end of the story, as Ms. Harris changes Kuri and Frank’s roles in the ZU a bit, but even so, I enjoyed One Night Steined and I am really, really hoping Ms. Harris writes a story for Q-ter and Barb.

Josie was reanimated for one purpose — to be the bride of her controlling, obsessive creator. The newly created stein is rescued by a fellow stein who is more than a hot reanimated body. Bane’s an assassin and his last mission before he gets his memory wiped is to take Josie to the safety of the Zombie Underground. But Bane’s mission isn’t easy. First, the Zombie Underground isn’t the only one targeting Josie and her creator; a rival faction with a hive mind is hot on Bane and Josie’s trail. Second, Josie was made to be a bride and can’t exist without a “husband.” It’s hard for Bane to keep his distance when Josie needs his touch, and it’s not long before the spirited stein breaks through the walls surrounding Bane’s heart.

Zombies get a wildly creative makeover from Daisy Harris! Lust After Death is a fantastically original story with imaginative world-building and sexy steins. Josie’s a newly-reanimated stein and she’s full of curiosity and wonder as she learns about the world around her. Her innocence and determination make her the perfect match for Bane. He’s a stein who bears scars from his time as an assassin (not a profession of his own choosing). Bane needs Josie to bring him back to life and the protective, badass Bane is the perfect match for the sweeter Josie.

Lust After Death is the first book in Ms. Harris’s Love-Bots series and if this story is any indication, the series is going to be amazing. There’s so much I want to learn about the world Ms. Harris has created and the taste readers are given in Lust After Death just leaves me wanting more (in a good way). Lust After Death is a red-hot, unique story with characters readers are sure to adore.